Alan fitz Flaad (1070-1114)
|contributors=Elrondlair |long_name=Alan FitzFlaad, Lord of Oswestry |description=Ancestor of the families of Stewart of Scotland and FitzAlan of Arundel. |birth_year=1070 |birth_date-approx=c |death_year=1114 |death_date-approx=aft |ifmarried-g1=true |globals= }} Alan fitz Flaad (born 1070, died in 1114) was a Breton knight who held the feudal barony and castle of Oswestry in Shropshire. His duties as a "valiant and illustrious man" included supervision of the Welsh border. He was an ancestor of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland (and later of Great Britain and Ireland), and therefore of the present monarch of The United Kingdom and the other commonwealth realms, Queen Elizabeth II. Family Alan was the son of Flaad, who was in turn a son of an Alain who had been the crusader (in 1097) who was dapifer to the Ancient Diocese of Dol in Dol-de-Bretagne. The area of Dol which is near Mont-Saint-Michel and has figured in the history of the Duchy of Brittany since at least the rule of Nominoe. "Alan, dapifer" is found as a witness in 1086 to a charter relating to Mezuoit, a cell of St. Florent, near Dol. England Flaad and his son Alan had come to the favourable notice of King Henry I of England who, soon after his accession, invited Alan to England with other Breton friends, and gave him forfeited lands in Norfolk and Shropshire, including some which had previously belonged to Ernulf de Hesdin and Robert de Belleme. Robert had proved a threat to Henry in both the Welsh Marches and in Normandy, so the king was determined to insert reliable supporters to counterbalance or replace his network of supporters. Alan received more land as he proved his worth. A large portfolio of lands in Shropshire and around Peppering, near Arundel in Sussex, was taken from the holdings of Rainald de Bailleul, ancestor of the House of Balliol, who were later to provide a king of Scotland. Religious foundations "Flaad filius Alani dapiferi" was present at the dedication of Monmouth Priory in 1101/2, and his son Alan was a witness to two charters of Henry I confirming the foundation of Holy Trinity Priory, York, as a cell of Marmoutier. Alan also founded Sporle Priory on land he held in Norfolk (probably at Sharrington), as another cell of St. Florent. He also acquired the site in Shropshire on which Haughmond Abbey was later built and it is possible that he was the founder of the religious community there, although its existence is not definitely attested before a grant by his son, William, around 1135. Marriage Alan fitz Flaad married Adeline de Hesdin, daughter of Arnulf de Hesdin (killed on crusade at Antioch). Their issue was: *William fitz Alan, eldest son (d. 1160), made High Sheriff of Shropshire by King Stephen of England in 1137. He married a niece of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester. His son William (d. c1210) acquired by marriage the Lordship of Clun and he became designated "Lord of Clun and Oswestry". William is ancestor of the FitzAlan Earls of Arundel. *Walter fitz Alan, second son, became 1st hereditary High Steward of Scotland, and ancestor of the Stewart Kings of Scotland. *Jordan fitz Alan, of Burton, who inherited lands in Brittany, and restored to the Priory of St. Florent at Sele, West Sussex, the mill at Burton given it by his father. *Simon fitz Alan, brother of Walter, who also went to Scotland and witnessed his brother's Foundation Charter of Paisley Abbey. Round suggests he may have been either a uterine or even a bastard brother. __SHOWFACTBOX__ Category:Anglo-Normans Category:Medieval English knights Category:High Sheriffs of Shropshire Category:People from Shropshire Category:People from Sussex Category:People from Norfolk Category:People from Staffordshire Category:People from Warwickshire Category:English people of Breton descent